Part-Timers Fare Little Better at Community Colleges

Elizabeth Kessel, Anne Arundel Community College
Copyright   ©   Organization of American Historians

For a long time, we in the history profession in higher education have observed the devastating impact of declining course enrollments and tighter budgets on the job market for new Ph.D.s seeking tenure-track jobs. Perhaps we have been less aware that the same set of conditions is producing an army of greatly exploited part-time faculty. Recently, I attended the AHA Conference on the Growing Use of Part-time/Adjunct Faculty, held in Washington D.C., as an OAH representative from the community colleges. Sixty-eight delegates from different types of institutions and disciplines met to consider how the academy should respond to this disturbing trend.

It is hard to get a firm grasp on the situation of part-time faculty, since there is inconsistency in the reporting of data. Nonetheless, in all post-secondary institutions, part-timers accounted for 40 percent of faculty. Depending on which reporting agency one follows, anywhere from 52 percent (AAUP) to 64 percent (ACE and NCES) of community college faculties hold part-time appointments. Of course, this large group is not homogeneous. Particularly at the community college level, experts such as engineers, lawyers or doctors may teach a single course. These people usually view their teaching as a public service--they do not care about salary, benefits, or even support services. The conference really was not concerned with their situation.

Part-timers who try to make a living by teaching was the group under discussion. These people usually teach several courses, most often at more than one institution. They are paid low wages and usually have no support services or access to professional development or governance. The conference attendees worried about the long-term impact this group would have on the quality of education as well as the impact that this difficult situation will have on the individuals.

The good news for part-time faculty in community colleges is that the representatives from community colleges at the conference reported that their institutions provide clerical support services, offices, telephones, mailboxes, and parking facilities. This is rarely the pattern at four-year or research institutions. The bad news, however, is that salaries are lowest at community colleges. Here, also, faculty are hired course-by-course. There are no contracts offered beyond the academic year. Furthermore, part-time faculty usually receive no benefits--such as life insurance, medical insurance or pension. In fact, the pattern at community colleges is to restrict the number of courses an adjunct may teach in any given year, to prevent them from qualifying for benefits. At community colleges, part-timers rarely get tuition reimbursement or any other type of support for development. They are not permitted to belong to faculty governing committees or organizations. In comparison to part-time faculty at other types of institutions, they hold fewer Ph.D.s.

The conference made me think about the situation at my own institution. Anne Arundel Community College is the third largest community college in Maryland. It is a comprehensive community college and has a transfer rate of about 30 percent. Part-timers definitely help us stretch the budget. Forty percent of our courses are taught by adjuncts, which is the state limit. A corollary to the part-time situation is that we are not replacing full-time faculty when they leave. Furthermore, we are also increasing the number of term faculty. At last count, 35 percent of our full-time faculty were on term appointments. Term faculty do not have access to the sick leave pool and cannot take leaves of absence or get sabbaticals.

My concern (or perhaps outrage) was eased somewhat when I returned to my campus and read in a newsletter that our institution was making the part-time issue a high priority for the coming year. The battle will be hard; there is not much give in the budget. (It will be even harder at four-year and research institutions, because the public feels that college tuition has already reached unreasonable amounts. This is less an issue at community colleges, where we raise tuition very reluctantly.) The difficulty of the challenge must not stop us from addressing these issues in our institutions and professional organizations. The quality of higher education and the morale and well-being of our colleagues depend upon our efforts. Elizabeth A. Kessel Anne Arundel Community College